Telegram likely to be restored in India, message-editing feature to remain disabled till June 30

Bilkul News Desk

4 months ago

New Delhi | The temporary ban on Telegram is likely to be lifted soon after the government blocked its services nationwide till June 22 keeping the NEET UG re-examination in concern. The government is not planning to extend the ban on Telegram, according to reports, and the services will be restored soon.

The app is likely to become available on app stores from June 23. However, the Centre’s measure to disable the message-editing feature on Telegram will continue till June 30. Last week, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) blocked Telegram in India till June 22 as a precautionary measure ahead of the NEET re-exam. “Both measures have been taken in the interest of public order, in response to the organised use of the platform by cheating rackets to defraud candidates appearing for the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination scheduled on 21 June 2026,” the National Testing Agency (NTA) said on Tuesday. On Friday, the Delhi High Court upheld the Centre’s decision to temporarily suspend Telegram’s services across India ahead of the NEET (UG) 2026 re-examination, ruling that the government had strictly followed the procedure prescribed under law while invoking emergency blocking powers and that the restrictions satisfied the test of proportionality.

Dismissing a petition filed by Telegram FZ LLC challenging the MeitY blocking order, a single-judge Bench of Justice Tejas Karia held that the temporary suspension of the messaging platform till June 22 and disabling of its message-editing feature till June 30 were justified in the circumstances surrounding the nationwide medical entrance examination. “Given the emergency nature of the Impugned Order, the reasons supplied in arriving at the decision were sufficient. As Respondent No. 1 (Union government) has strictly followed the procedural steps as required under Section 69A of the IT Act, the challenge to the Impugned Order on the ground non-communication of reasons cannot be sustained,” the Delhi High Court said. The restrictions were imposed under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act following recommendations made by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The Union government had defended the move by contending that Telegram’s architecture and repeated misuse for examination-related frauds left authorities with no effective alternative but to invoke emergency blocking powers.